JASPER – The field of elk hunters was shortened by the federal shutdown, but those in action did well in the first season in Buffalo River country. Upcoming is the second hunt, Monday through Friday, Oct. 28-Nov. 1. Twenty hunters have permits for public land, and at the same time, dozens of others will go on private land with permits, a separate process.

Doug Young of Malvern took bragging rights in the first hunt with his 7x7 bull elk. He was hunting on Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area, a facility of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Close behind Young’s bull was the 6x7 bull downed by Cain Lusk of Hector. Lusk is just 12 years old, but he put his rifle shot where it needed to go. Lusk was hunting in the Bearcat Hollow area of southwestern Searcy County, a rugged region open this year for the first time to elk hunting.

Ridge Fletcher of Little Rock, 14 and a student at Catholic High School, scored with a 4x5 bull on Gene Rush WMA.

Billy Burleson of Lead Hill had an antlerless permit for Bearcat Hollow, and he took a cow elk.

Shane Lyerly of Jonesboro got a cow elk in the Richland Valley Sonny Varnell Elk Conservation Area on the eastern side of Gene Rush WMA.

Two hunters who were scheduled to work Buffalo National River land were sidelined by the shutdown, but they will have permits for 2014’s elk season.

Weather was close to ideal for the hunt with cool nights then moderately warm days and sunshine all five days.

The public land permits are free as are applications for them. The month of May is application time each year, and the permit winners are drawn during the Buffalo River Elk Festival on Jasper’s courthouse square late in June.

AGFC biologists are on hand at the hunts to take samples from elk for testing. No diseases or other health issues have been found in the 16 years of permit hunting.

The Arkansas elk herd numbers about 600 and is stable with the limited hunting. The Boxley Valley area, where thousands of visitors come to view elk in fields, has never been open to hunting them.

Arkansas ninth on deer collision list

LITTLE ROCK – According to statistics from State Farm insurance company, Arkansas has moved up to No. 9 on the list of states where a driver is most likely to hit a deer; it was No. 12 on the previous list.

State Farm compiles the statistics every year from Federal Highway Administration information to calculate the chances. The company estimates there were 1.2 million deer-car accidents last year (July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013), including 21,913 in Arkansas.

For the seventh consecutive year, West Virginia leads the list. It’s followed by Montana, Iowa, South Dakota and Pennsylvania. Hawaii is last.

State Farm calculates the likelihood of any driver in the U.S. hitting a deer through June 30, 2014 at 1 in 174. It was 1 in 167 last year.

Here are a few tips to avoid deer.

*Deer generally travel in groups; if you see one, others probably are near.

*Heed deer crossing signs.

*Deer are most active at dawn and dusk.

*Use high beams when possible.

*Don’t rely on car-mounted deer whistles.

See www.statefarm.com/about/retirees/news_articles/top-states-for-deer-collisions.asp for more information.

Horsehead Lake renovation project completed

CLARKSVILLE –Renovations to Horsehead Lake are now complete. Construction on the 63-year-old lake began earlier this summer.

The 100-acre lake was built by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in 1950, in partnership with Ozark National Forest. It has provided decades of fishing for largemouth bass, crappie, catfish, bluegill and red-ear bream, mostly for residents of the area.

The lake is in the national forest, and the national forest operates a recreation area on the west side of the lake. A campground, picnic area, playground and restroom facilities are available. This recreation area is closed due to the federal government shutdown.

Repairs to the water control structure consisted of inserting a 320-foot, 18-inch pipe into the existing 24-inch outlet pipe, then grouting around the inserted pipe. The drawdown tower was filled with concrete and cut off at ground level. The new pipe has a gate valve attached to the downstream end so that the gate can be opened below the dam. The control valve is enclosed in a steel locked box.

The lake bottom was sown earlier with sorghum-sudan grass and later sown with winter wheat. This vegetation will increase the fertility and provide more food for the fish after it becomes inundated with water and begins to rot producing animal plankton (zooplankton) which is utilized by sportfish as they develop.

AGFC fisheries personnel placed fish structure in seven locations. These areas were marked and those locations will be available on the AGFC website. Additional structure has been placed near access areas on the east side of the lake. This area will be usable by bank and boat fishermen.

The lake is now in the process of refilling. Fish will be stocked as soon as there is enough water to access the lake from the boat ramp. Catchable channel catfish will provide fishing opportunities until the fingerling size bass, bream and crappie which will be stocked next spring are large enough to harvest. Fish stocked next spring should be large enough to harvest in 3 to 4 years, but sometimes in new or renovated lakes the fish grow much faster. Additional fish structure will be added as time permits.

Large tree stumps that were causing boating hazards were cut off 4 feet below normal water level. The concrete boat ramp also was extended 20 feet. The access area at the boat launching area was improved by deepening the shoreline allowing easier boat docking, cutting shoreline trees to allow more bank fishing area and placement of fish structure within casting distance. One access was improved by removing 6 smaller pine trees making for easier access to campers and fishermen. The access area improvements were funded with Marine Fuel Tax monies.

Over 230 tons of agricultural limestone purchased from Davis-Sikes Feed Mill in Scranton was hauled and dumped in five locations. The spreading of the lime along the shoreline and in the lake bottom and the access improvements were done by Robbie Berg Construction of Greenwood. Crisp Industries of Bridgeport, Texas submitted the low bid of $62,250 for the project.

Crisp then contracted Performance Plus of Atoka, Oklahoma to do the actual insertion of pipe, gate and grouting work. Performance Plus has extensive experience with dam repair work. Master Made Concrete with headquarters in Carbon City supplied the grout and concrete for the project. Equipment was rented from Alma Tractor Supply. Crisp Industries provided supervision, equipment and labor for all concrete work, steel box placement and removal of old drawdown tower.

The U.S. Forest Service painted all swim posts which hold the ropes and buoy lines at their swim beach. The Johnson County Road Department hauled and spread sand purchased by the USFS Service, on the swim beach. A total of 34 dump truck loads of sand were hauled and spread. USFS also did a lot of litter pickup on the lake bottom along their area as we did on the dam. We wish to thank all the local folks who helped pick up trash and litter in the lake and who followed directions and did not drive their 4-wheelers on the lake bottom so that the vegetation planted had a chance to grow.

“Outdoor Hotline” to feature deer season forecast

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas’s modern gun deer season is just around the corner. If you’d like to find out what the season forecast looks like, then tune in Oct. 17 to AETN for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s “Outdoor Hotline.” The show begins at 7 p.m.

The AGFC’s public affairs coordinator Steve “Wild Man” Wilson will be the moderator. “We'll be focusing on whitetails,” Wilson said. “Outdoors enthusiasts can call in their questions and comments about hunting or anything else dealing with the great outdoors. It is better to get your questions answered about rules and regulations now rather than have a wildlife officer educate you in the field and charge you for it. Those lessons can be costly,” Wilson added.